In today's environment organizations often solicit business by sending information via a common carrier, which for the purposes of this application includes any business involved in the physical delivery of items (i.e. U.S. POSTAL SERVICE.RTM., FEDERAL EXPRESS.RTM.), to targeted recipients. The goal of the sending organization is typically to have the recipient procure an item or a service described in the information packet, but can also include, in the case of a charitable organization, a request for a contribution. Additionally, the information may simply be an introduction as to the capabilities/services of the sending organization which is intended to motivate the recipient to initiate follow-up discussions concerning the services and capabilities of the sender organization as they may be applied to the recipient's business. Unfortunately, in today's environment where mail fraud schemes are not uncommon, the recipient of the information packet often discards the information even if the product or services appear to be of some interest to the recipient. This predominantly occurs because the recipient is unfamiliar with the s sender organization and is reluctant to take any chance in conducting business with an unknown entity through the mail. In the event that the recipient does not discard the information packet they have two other alternatives. The first is that they can send money (or a check, etc.) through the mail for the product or service and risk not receiving the service or product if an unscrupulous sender is involved in the transaction. Alternatively, the recipient can perform some type of research on the sender organization to determine if they are reputable such as by contacting the Better Business Bureau or the Consumer Protection Agency. However, such research requires the use of resources which the recipient is unwilling to consume. As a result of the above, targeted direct mail business solicitations often do not generate a satisfactory business return rate.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus which provides on a mailpiece easily readable, cryptographically secured, third party certified, non-shipping information about the sender of the mailpiece.